The peak period of inspection and handling of intellectual property infringement in Ho Chi Minh City is taking place amidst numerous cases related to digital copyright that have been prosecuted and caused a public outcry.
No longer just minor disputes between artists and businesses, the copyright issue has now entered a more intense legal phase, as investigative agencies begin to scrutinize models of digital content exploitation that have existed for many years in the internet's "grey areas."
"Major copyright infringement scandal" shakes the art world.
The simultaneous initiation of criminal proceedings in five cases by the Investigation Police Department of the Ministry of Public Security related to the crime of "Infringement of copyright and related rights" is creating an unprecedented shock to Vietnam's digital content industry.
The companies under investigation include BH Media, Lululola, May Saigon, Giong Ca De Doi (The Voice of a Lifetime), and 1900 Group. A common characteristic of these entities is that they all own YouTube channels, entertainment platforms, and digital content libraries with very large followings.
Lululola, a familiar music venue for music lovers. The company's director is one of seven individuals charged as defendants. (Photo: KARO)
Among them, BH Media has been the subject of much controversy for a long time due to its involvement in a series of incidents where artists reacted negatively to copyright infringement claims.
Composer Nguyen Van Chung once shared that he lost approximately 1.7 billion VND in copyright fees to another entity. What angered him even more was that he was then persuaded by someone claiming to be a copyright lawyer to sign a power of attorney to "reclaim his rights," but this very document was then used to sell the exploitation rights to another entity for profit.
The People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has also just issued a document implementing Prime Minister 's Directive No. 38/CĐ-TTg on resolutely implementing solutions to combat, prevent, and handle acts of infringement of intellectual property rights (IPR). Following the direction of the Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, departments, agencies, functional forces, and People's Committees at the commune, ward, and special zone levels will simultaneously launch inspection campaigns until May 30, 2026.
Singer My Le also recounted how her entire solo album was unexpectedly exploited by someone else. She had to ask permission to use the songs she produced and performed herself.
"I both produce and sing my own songs, and now I have to ask permission to use them again. Broadcasters don't dare air them for fear of copyright infringement. It's unbelievable," the female singer expressed.
According to singer My Le, the reason stems from the fact that record labels previously sold the exploitation rights to third parties without informing the artists.
When an artist is criticized for their own work.
Playwright Hoang Song Viet recounted how his works were unjustly "slammed" simply because someone else uploaded them to YouTube first and owned their copyright, which he considered a disadvantage.
In 2021, musician Giáng Son spoke out when her song "Giấc mơ trưa" (Midday Dream), which she composed and arranged, was the subject of a copyright claim on YouTube.
People's Artist Thu Hien was also upset when she discovered that hundreds of her songs had been uploaded to YouTube for many years without her knowledge. The artist's family discovered a channel named People's Artist Thu Hien that was uploading and holding the rights to many of her songs.
Following the backlash from the artist, the channel changed its name and profile picture, but the content remained the same.
Singer Thien Vuong shared that throughout their 26 years of activity, the MTV group has had almost no income from digital platforms despite owning many famous songs.
According to the singer, in the past, when physical albums were released, the distributors had the right to print and distribute the products on behalf of the group. However, later on, many recordings were sold to digital platforms without the group's notification.
"When MTV re-uploaded our own songs, we were flagged for copyright infringement. At times, we had to go and request whitelists for the songs we performed. Gradually, the group gave up developing their presence on digital platforms altogether," Thien Vuong recounted.
Tactics for exploiting the internet's "gray area"
According to initial investigations, the companies being prosecuted are alleged to have exploited digital copyright management mechanisms such as YouTube Content ID to build revenue-generating models.
In theory, Content ID is a tool to protect intellectual property rights. When an audio or video recording is registered with the system, YouTube automatically scans the entire platform to detect matching content, then transfers control or revenue to the registered entity. However, when misused, this mechanism becomes a "weapon" for commercial exploitation.
According to authorities, there are indications that some businesses are registering recordings without sufficient grounds for ownership; receiving incomplete authorization; or exploiting old songs, bolero music, folk songs, and Southern Vietnamese traditional music, and cải lương music, then incorporating them into the copyright identification system.
Once the data is confirmed, any video containing similar audio could be "striked," blocked from release, or forced to share revenue.
Associate Professor Tran Yen Chi (Ho Chi Minh City University of Theatre and Film) noted that this is a "grey area" that has existed on the internet for many years.
According to Mr. Nguyen Tien Huy, CEO of Pencil Group JSC, a company operating in the media sector, YouTube Content ID is still an automated system, operating on the logic of "first come, first served," not "first come, first served." Without a transparent ownership verification infrastructure, proactively built by Vietnam, many other BH Media companies will emerge under different names.
Based on that reality, he advised that artists and creators in Vietnam need an ecosystem where creativity is properly valued, ownership is transparent, and income from artworks flows directly to the creators.
Reusing information and images from the press.
Copyright infringement remains widespread online. Despite numerous media reports, many fan pages such as Hanoi 24h, Yeah1 TV, Theanh28 Entertainment, etc., continue to illegally reuse information and images from news organizations to increase interaction and attract followers.
The copied content often includes breaking news, striking images of tourism and urban life – products that are the result of the effort, time, and intelligence invested by reporters and newsrooms.
Some social media platforms are illegally reusing information and images from news agencies to increase engagement and attract followers. (Image: SCREENSHOT)
Furthermore, in many cases, the content lacks source attribution and original links. When reported, the administrators of these pages often claim they "forgot" to add the information later. After accumulating a large following, these fan pages quickly commercialize by selling advertisements for tens to hundreds of millions of VND, profiting directly from the illegally exploited content.
Speaking with a reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, Lawyer Phan Vu Tuan, Head of Phan Law Vietnam Law Office, stated that the actions of large social media platforms in reposting verbatim or editing content and images from newspapers without permission, and then leveraging that interaction to receive advertising and enable monetization, constitute copyright infringement (as stipulated in Article 28 of the Intellectual Property Law).
This constitutes a direct infringement of the copyright owner's property rights (as stipulated in Article 20), including the right to create derivative works, the right to copy, and the right to distribute and communicate the work to the public. These websites' unauthorized use of other people's property for commercial gain is completely illegal.
The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has just issued a document implementing Prime Minister's Directive No. 38/CĐ-TTg on resolutely implementing measures to combat, prevent, and handle acts of intellectual property infringement. Following the direction of the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, departments, agencies, functional forces, and the People's Committees of communes, wards, and special zones will simultaneously launch inspection campaigns until May 30, 2026.
Developing the cultural industry: Copyright must be respected.
Ho Chi Minh City is aiming to become the cultural industry center of the country. To go far in this endeavor, one of the crucial steps is to build an environment that respects copyright.
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi My Liem (Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Music Association) said: "Vietnam is increasingly integrating deeply with new generation trade agreements. In this context, intellectual property is no longer an internal concept of the arts but has become a mandatory standard of the modern creative economy."
Lawyer Nguyen Van Mot (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association) commented: "No country can develop a sustainable digital economy if its creative assets are constantly being infringed upon without effective protection."
Source: https://nld.com.vn/tp-hcm-cao-diem-chong-xam-pham-so-huu-tri-tue-196260519203348298.htm
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